Advertisements for trainees on Mnet's "Produce 101" are shown on walls in Sinchon Station, in Seoul. / Courtesy of Wenice

Fans go fanatic over real-life ‘prince making'

By Park Jin-hai

Defying initial concerns that the second season of "Produce 101" may become just a boy version of the show's first season, which featured a pool of female singers and culminated in the project girl group I.O.I., its second season all-male survival show recently closed its two month journey, creating an unprecedentedly strong fandom.

At the time when talent survival shows have been losing luster, the show, where the public become "national producers" and choose 11 members among 101 trainees from 54 entertainment companies, has created an overheated and expanded fandom.

In the audition where the public votes online and mobile message votes make or break the fate of each trainee, teen boys sang "Tonight, I am the star" and "The person to steal your heart, it's me," while desperately pleading for fans' support.

A 29-year-old office worker, surnamed Kim, made a habit of accessing the show's smart phone application every midnight to cast her vote for Daniel Kang. Due to the one-vote-a-day policy, she borrows her brother and parents' accounts to give more votes to Kang. She accesses Kang's video clips and streams them on her computer all day long.

"Since Kang is my idol, it is all too natural for me to run for his marketing. On my way home from work, I take selfies, standing in front of support advertisements for Kang on the subway platform," she said.

The show premiered with a 1.6 percent viewership. But the number tripled when a three-hour-episode announcing the 11 finalists to debut for a boy band called "Wanna One" topped the viewership ratings with 5.2 percent. It also topped the content power index for 10 weeks in a row, while related video clips garnered an accumulated 490 million hits, surpassing the number of the smash hit drama "Reply" and the reality show "Youn's Kitchen."

During the competition and even afterwards, busy districts or subway stations have seen giant advertisements, paid for by fans, pleading to "vote" for their favorite individuals, reminding us of politicians during election campaigns.

"Previously, agencies find talented singers and train them to become stars. But, in the format of Produce 101, fans are undertaking the role of star maker," said culture critic Bae Kook-nam.

Fans feel a heavier responsibility and try whatever they can to make the trainees of their choice rank high on the fluctuating weekly competition chart.

Participants are seen anxiously waiting for the result of the popular vote in the idol survival show "Produce 101." / Courtesy of CJ E&M

Rise of older fans

One notable point is the rise of so called "imo fans," older female fans aged in their 30s and 40s. Although the show was broadcast Friday night, many relatively older fans, compared with the previous teen fans, stayed up to watch the show and participated in voting.

"Many of my friends are fans of the show," said an office worker in her late 30s. "It is kind of a guilty pleasure." Another woman, a 40-something mother of two, said, "I'm a great fan. Looking at those handsome young boys working fiercely for their dreams, I just want to give them huge support."

In the final episode, Kang gained the most votes with a total of 1.58 million from the public. By age, 20 somethings accounted for the largest at 39 percent of the vote, while those in their 30s came next with 30 percent. The portion of teenage fans was only 10 percent.

Fans in their 30s and older are "shy" idol fans. "Although they don't openly say it, I know many such fans give presents to support their idols. Since most of such fans have jobs, they tend to give high priced gifts. Some fans even post money transfer receipts, which show they sent over 1 million won in gifts on their social network service," said a 33-year-old fan, who calls herself a "mom fan."

Industry insiders view that those in their 20s and 30s, who were fixated with the raising of a digital pet game "Tamagotchi" when they were children, now tend to enjoy "Produce 101" as a live action edition of the famous Japanese simulation game "Princess Maker," only with a male version.

Such older fans view an idol not as one only to be admired but as one that they should help raise to stardom and are deeply moved by the idol's coming-of-age story.

"If the fans of the past consumed what was given from stars as part of marketing, today's fans have more of a sense of ownership that they should be up front in supporting the stars. The format contributes to fans and stars growing together and becoming more loyal to each other," said critic Kim Bong-seok.

Overheated fandom has backfired as well. Fans, supportive of a certain trainee, post abusive comments to raise the chances of their idol's survival.

"The rivalry between fans of different idols has existed for a long time. But Produce 101 shows an extreme case of it. It is no wonder because it is a survival show," Bae said.

More trainee survival programs to come

More male-only survival shows, similar to "Produce 101," will hit the air waves during the year. YG Entertainment is preparing to launch "YG-style Produce 101" format this fall, tapping into the producer of "Show Me The Money" and the first season of "Produce 101." The company also plans to make a survival program among YG's 30 trainees.

Mnet, after the success of "Produce 101," will broadcast a girl group variety show "Idol School" starting next month while public broadcaster KBS is considering to jump on the idol audition program bandwagon by launching "The Final 99 Match," aiming to give a second chance to idols, who have debuted but still remain obscure.

"As a public broadcaster, we are pondering over how to minimize the side effects of overheated fandom. But we cannot ignore that idol audition programs have become a big trend. We see the popularity of such programs continuing for some time," said a KBS official.